Saving Animals From Ourselves

This book is based on a belief we both fiercely share: That we are not separate from the Divine, not separate from other humans, and are inextricably interconnected with the Earth community, with a responsibility to protect and to live in humble and grateful harmony with the whole of creation.

In 2020, COVID-19, the Australia bushfires, and other global threats served as vivid reminders that human and nonhuman fates are increasingly linked. Human use of nonhuman animals contributes to pandemics, climate change, and other global threats which, in turn, contribute to biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse, and nonhuman suffering. Jeff Sebo argues that humans have a moral responsibility to include animals in global health and environmental policy. In particular, we should reduce our use of animals as part of our pandemic and climate change mitigation efforts and increase our support for animals as part of our adaptation efforts. Applying and extending frameworks such as One Health and the Green New Deal, Sebo calls for reducing support for factory farming, deforestation, and the wildlife trade; increasing support for humane, healthful, and sustainable alternatives; and considering human and nonhuman needs holistically. Sebo also considers connections with practical issues such as education, employment, social services, and infrastructure, as well as with theoretical issues such as well-being, moral status, political status, and population ethics. In all cases, he shows that these issues are both important and complex, and that we should neither underestimate our responsibilities because of our limitations, nor underestimate our limitations because of our responsibilities. Both an urgent call to action and a survey of what ethical and effective action requires, Saving Animals, Saving Ourselves is an invaluable resource for scholars, advocates, policy-makers, and anyone interested in what kind of world we should attempt to build and how.

Want to save animals, but not sure how? Or maybe you are already helping animals and want to do more. Saving Animals: A Young Activist's Guide will show you just how powerful you can be. With inspo from 24 young activists aged 6-18, everyday actions you can do right now, step by step plans to help you organise your own events and tips to help you avoid getting frazzled. There's everything you need to get started. Here are a few things to expect: Activist stories and interviews - if they can do it, so can you How to directly rescue animals How the author started her own animal rescue organisation Self-care tips to avoid burnout How to respond when you get asked common questions like, 'where do you get your protein, ' or 'don't you care about humans?' Why and how to go vegan How to organise a protest or disruption How to get the media interested in your event How to find or create a supportive animal rights community Effective vegan outreach tips How to stand up for the animals in your school And so much more Whether you want to chalk colourful slogans, set up an animal rights squad, create animal art, talk to your family about veganism, try your hand at video outreach or maybe rescue animals yourself, this book will help you make a difference. The animals need us to get active now, so jump into Saving Animals today.

The inspiration for Rescued was the tragic situation with pets during the Katrina disaster -- thousands refusing to leave without their pets, and many animals dying due to official indifference. The authors interviewed hundreds of volunteers, hurricane survivors, and government officials. They offer both hope and practical suggestions, as well as the latest information on official policy and how to help in future catastrophes.

Lauded as “an extraordinarily poignant book” by Jim Harrison and called “an homage to the profound power of mutual healing” and a “definitive and compassionate book” by Susan Richards (author of Chosen by a Horse), Saved is a beautifully illustrated tribute to rescued animals who have deeply affected the people who saved them. From Phil, an ailing and unemployed foster dad to an orphaned fawn, to Walt, a retired pipe fitter whose horses helped alleviate his heartache after the death of his son, the stories in Saved, as Rita Mae Brown says, “prove once again that love rescues us all.”

Engaging and thought-provoking, this book examines how humans see and treat other animals and argues that we should extend equal consideration and respect to all beings, human and nonhuman alike. Our world is plighted by ‘isms’ such as racism and sexism, but we may have overlooked a very important one: speciesism. Speciesism is a form of discrimination against those who don’t belong to a certain species. It drives us to see nonhuman animals as objects, rather than individuals with their own interests and with the ability to feel and suffer. This book questions all of the assumptions speciesism is based upon. It raises many challenging questions over humans' very complicated attitudes toward other animals. Thinking about how animals are used as well as the suffering of wild animals, and what the future may be for all beings, this book calls for society to seriously take into account the interests of all animals. For all who care about animals, or simply how to make the world a better place, this book is essential reading.

A moving and scientific look at the curative powers--both physical and mental--of rescuing a shelter animal, by the president of Humane Society Silicon Valley. MUTUAL RESCUE profiles the transformational impact that shelter pets have on humans, exploring the emotional, physical, and spiritual gifts that rescued animals provide. It explores through anecdote, observation, and scientific research, the complexity and depth of the role that pets play in our lives. Every story in the book brings an unrecognized benefit of adopting homeless animals to the forefront of the rescue conversation. In a nation plagued by illnesses--16 million adults suffer from depression, 29 million have diabetes, 8 million in any given year have PTSD, and nearly 40% are obese--rescue pets can help: 60% of doctors said they prescribe pet adoption and a staggering 97% believe that pet ownership provides health benefits. For people in chronic emotional, physical, or spiritual pain, adopting an animal can transform, and even save, their lives. Each story in the book takes a deep dive into one potent aspect of animal adoption, told through the lens of people's personal experiences with their rescued pets and the science that backs up the results. This book will resonate with readers hungering for stories of healing and redemption.

A fascinating and unprecedented ethnography of animal sanctuaries in the United States In the past three decades, animal rights advocates have established everything from elephant sanctuaries in Africa to shelters that rehabilitate animals used in medical testing, to homes for farmed animals, abandoned pets, and entertainment animals that have outlived their “usefulness.” Saving Animals is the first major ethnography to focus on the ethical issues animating the establishment of such places, where animals who have been mistreated or destined for slaughter are allowed to live out their lives simply being animals. Based on fieldwork at animal rescue facilities across the United States, Elan Abrell asks what “saving,” “caring for,” and “sanctuary” actually mean. He considers sanctuaries as laboratories where caregivers conceive and implement new models of caring for and relating to animals. He explores the ethical decision making around sanctuary efforts to unmake property-based human–animal relations by creating spaces in which humans interact with animals as autonomous subjects. Saving Animals illustrates how caregivers and animals respond by cocreating new human–animal ecologies adapted to the material and social conditions of the Anthropocene. Bridging anthropology with animal studies and political philosophy, Saving Animals asks us to imagine less harmful modes of existence in a troubled world where both animals and humans seek sanctuary.